Hay loader



Nov. 20 ,'1923. 1,474,492

H. w. PlERsoN HAY LOADER Filed Jan. 5, 1920 2 SheetsShet 1 INVENTOR ZM/"#50567607 a wyrhjbw Nov. 20,1923. 1,474,492

H. W. PIERSON HAY LOADER yFiled Jan. s, 1920 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTORPatented Nov. 20, .1923

'HARRY WILLIAVI PIERSON, OF PRINCETON, ILLINGIS; W. PIERSON ADMINIS- 'iTRATRIX OF SAID :HARRY W. PERSON, IDECVEASEID.l

HAY LOADER,

Application filed-Januaryf, 1920. Serial No, 349,155.

To all wlw/m, t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HARRY W'. PinRsoN, a n citizen of the United States,residing atV Princeton, in the county of BureauV and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay Loaders,ofwhich the followingis a specification.

This invention reiates to hay loaders of the so-called cylinder typewhich employ a lcontinuously moving carrierv provided lwith teeth orprongswhich dip down into hayv and act to elevate the same along aninclined deckv to the pointlof discharge.

The object of the present invention is vto provide means for positivelyholding the rake teeth in their projected position dui'- ing theelevation of the hay to the point of discharge, so that the'pressure ofthe hay will not tend to bend backor displace the teeth while thepressure of the load is being` I chains 23 which are carried upon. alower carried thereby.

The invention further relates to the means provided for stripping thehay from the teeth Vand for permitting the teeth to turn back as theypass under the stripper bar, andv thereafter resume their projectedposition, so that they will always approach the point of contact withthe hay on the ground in projected oroperative position.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the loader;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view `looking upwardly from beneath toward thedischarge end of the loader; and

Fig. 3 is a detail of the spring connection between oneof the raketheads and the terminates at each end in an angularlydisposed finger 3.3'which .lies` outside of the carrier chain. y

The loader is built upon a rectangular frame comprising side rails 10,`front cross a sills 11, and a rear cross sill 12. A suitable bracket 13is provided forthe attachmentr of the draw-bar of a tractor. and castorwheels 14; carried by spindles 15 at the front outer'corners of theframework, in combination with large ground wheels '16"journaled inbearings 16al on the side rails, serve to support the frame at a properelevation abovel the ground.

The main frame carries an inclined supporting frame comprising sideFails 17 which are braced and supported by brace bars 18, and `the lsiderails of the supporting .frame serve to carry a deck, comprising sides19 and a slatted bottom 20 Vupon which thehay f travels from the groundto the point of dis-f.V

charge to the hay wagon. The deck is adjustably mounted .withvrespect tothesupporting frame. by means of a pair of links A214-21 ;set inyoblique relation with respect to the rails 17 and the sides 19. and aspring 22 connected respectively to the side rail' 17 and the deck side19, serves to hold the parts in abutting relationship, as shown inv fulllinesvinFig; 1, the spring beingprovided so that the deck may onoccasion be forceddown by the pressure ofthe-hay into the positionindicated by dotted lines, which adjustment is desirablevin. the rakingof heavy hay in order to afford a larger measure of clearance betweenthe slatted bottoni of the deck and the raking teeth.

1 The raking mechanism .comprises yendless pinionv 29 on the groundwheelk axle, so that as the hay loader advances the power dei rived fromthe ground. wheels will rotatev the driving sprocket and impart acontinuous travel Yto lthe sprocket chains.

The sprocket chains have mounted thereon a plurality of transverselymounted rake heads 35, each'of which comprises a tubular portion 31 anda backing bar 32, best shown in Fig. 3. Each of the tubular membersplane ofthe carrier chains, and isl adapted torride lin an adjacentguideway'presently to be described. The tubular portions of the rakeheads are'journaled within niountings `Set formed on the adjacent linksections of" purposes into a position in substantial par allelism' withtheichaiiis'as occasion ma re quire. The rake teethBO are connectedtothetubular portions of'the rake head by ceiling their inner lends aroundvthe ktubular :the spring,

" innige. Y

portions and securing them in any suitable manner against rotativemovement thereon. v

In order to normally return the rake teeth to outstanding position afterthey have been laid back for stripping purposes, each of the rake headsis provided at each endwith a spring 36 which is connected at one end toVthe intermediate portion of anY arm 36a which projects from the rakehead backing bar 32, and at its other end to one of the` links of thechain, sothat asthe rake teeth are laid back a tension will be exertedon which will act to restore the arts to normal outstanding position assoon as the rake teeth are free to return, the con-- tact of thek arm36a with the spring serving to limit the return movement, as indicatedAt the' upper end of the loader andnbetween the side rails 17 is astripper bar 3'?V which also serves as a connectionv for the side rails.This stripper bar lies closely adjacent `to the peripheries ofthe uppersprocket wheels so that as the projecting rake teeth pass undernthestripper bar they will be laid back and the hay will be strippedtherefrom as the teeth pass under the bar, this stripping action takingplace under spring tension, with the result that as soon as the raketeeth have cleared the stripper bar they will return under springtension .to their outstanding position. The rstripper bar coaets with aplurality of longitudinally arranged stripper'rods 38 -which areconnected at their upper ends to the stripper bar, which rods Vare-.inspaced rela-- charge.

sprocket to aHord an enlarged throat for theV easy discharge of the hay.Most of the hay willbe thus discharged before the stripping point islreached, but if any hay remains on theraketeeth the same willbe strippedoff beforethe teeth begin their return movej ment, so that the operatingparts will be v'thoroughly cleaned and any cloggingy ofhay prevented. iY Y In order to positively hold the teeth in their projected positionduring .the gathering and elevating movements of the rake teeth, andwhile the latter are subjected to the pressure of the hay, the fingers33 are pro-vided, which travel within guideways 39 formed on the innerfaces of the side rails 17, which guideways lie immediatelyoutside.

of and in parallel relation with the adjacent sprocket chains. Withinsaid guideways the fingers 33 on each end of each of the rake heads`travel until the discharge point is reached. The'gu'ideways terminateat some distance below the stripper bar 37 so that at i the dischargepoint, the rake teeth are free` to turn backto permit the hay to?dischargeV andy to pass under the stripper bar. At this point in thetravel of the rake teeth they will be held in projected position only bythe tension of the springs 36, and not positivelyas heretofore.

Eachof the side guideways 39 cio-operates with a curved guideway 40formed on the inner face of a disk or plate 41, which lies adjacent tothe driving sprocket .'onthe same vside 0f the machine, so that astherake teeth approach the hay gathering point'the fingers 33 will, as thechain passes around the driving sprocket,V` enter the vcurved guideways40 which merge into the side guideways 39, so that the rake teeth willbe positively held in their projected positionas they pass around thedriving sprockets and. Y

begin their gathering operation.

The operation of theydevice maybe briey summarizedas follows: As `themachine advances, theV ground wheels will bed rotated,'and power derivedtherefrom. will j,

be utilized to drive vthe lower sprocket wheels, so that the endlesschains will `be operated and the rake heads and rake teeth moved togather and elevate'the hay. The V` rake teeth, during the gathering andelevating operations, will be held against retraction both by the4positive action ofthe guideways and by the action of the springs.

This condition will continue until the disi charge point is reached, atwhich time the rake heads and rake teeth will be released from positivesupportV and allowed torotate under spring tension for the purposeofdis-Y A charging the hay and for permitting the rake teeth to passunder the strippingV bar. j

Thereafter the teeth being relieved from the pressure of the hay, willbe returned to outstanding positionby the action of thev springs, sothat the supporting fingers will-Tr be in position to enter thecurvingguide-l ways as the rake heads approach the gathering point.V A iY The arrangementisonewhich insures a positive cleaning of the raketeeth after each discharge, and lwhich laffords adequate means forpreventing accidental recession of the teeth when serving the functionof elevating a heavy cut ofvhay, and-the provision Y of the strippingrods serves to insure against accidental lifting of .the'hay to apointwhere it might interfere Vwith the action of the moving portions of themechanism.

I claim:

l. In a liay loader, the combination of a supporting frame, groundwheels, endless chains driven by the groundwheels, rake heads rotatablymounted upon the *endlessV guides for; engagingthe ngers to positivelyhold.4 theA rake. teeth? in "projected position during. the gatheringand `elevating' operations', lsaid guides terminating at the dischargingpoint to permit airecession ofthe rake4 teeth, and Aa spring' foreach.rake head for permitting the teeth when released to return under springtension, substantially as described.

2. In a hay loader, the combination of a sup-porting frame, groundwheels, endless chains driven by the ground wheels, rake heads rotatablymounted upon the endless chains, rake teeth carried by the rake heads,fingers connected with the rake heads, `uides for engaging the fingersto positively old the rake teeth in projected position during thegathering and elevating operations, said guides terminating at thedischarging po-int to permit a recession of the rake teeth, a spring foreach rake head for permitting the teeth when released to recede underspring tension, and a transversely extending stripper bar positioned tobe engaged by the teeth when the fingers are released from theguideways, substantially as described.

3. In a hay loader, the combination of a Y supporting frame, groundwheels, endless chains driven by the ground wheels, rake heads rotatablymounted upon thefendless chains, rake teeth carried by the rake heads,fingers connected with the rake h'eads, guides for engaging the fingersto positively hold the rake teeth in projected position during thegathering and elevating opera.- tions, said guides terminating at thedischarge point to permit a recession of the rake teeth, a. spring foreach rake head for permitting the teeth when released to recede underspring tension, a transversely extending stripper bar positioned -to beengaged by the teeth when the fingers are released from the guideways,and longitudinally extending stripper rods thro-ugh which the teethproject, substantially as described.

4. In a hay loader, the combination of a main frame, ground wheelssupporting the main frame, an inclined elevator frame, a deck below theelevator frame along which the hay is conveyed, endless chains carriedby the elevator frame, driving sprockets driven by the ground wheels foroperating the endless chains, rake heads Arotatably mounted upon theendless chains and provided ivith guide fingers, rake teeth carried bythe rake heads, guides adapted to be engaged by the guide fingers forholding the rake teeth in projected position, the chain being operatedto elevate the hay beneath the chains and along the underlying deck, theguides terminating at the discharging point to permit a recession of theteeth for discharging the hay, and springs for' restoring the,` teeth tovprojected position afternthe discharging operation, 'substantially asdescribed. l 5. In a hay loader, the combinationlof a mainframe, groundwheels supportingthe` vided with guide fingers, rake teeth carried bythe rake heads, guides adapted to berengaged by the guide fingers forholding the rake teeth in projected position, the chain being operatedtoV elevate the hay beneath the chains and along the underlying deck,"

the guides terminating at the discharging point to permit a recession ofthe teeth `for discharging the hay, springs for restoring the teeth toprojected position afterV the` discharging operation, and a transverselyarranged stripper bar adapted tobe engaged by the rake teeth `after therelease of the fingers from the guideways for laying back the teethunder spring tension and stripping the hay therefrom, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a hay loader, the combination of a supporting frame, an elevatingframe, ground wheels, endless chains driven by the ground wheels, rakeheads mounted upon the endless-chains, rake teeth carried by thev rakeheads, a deck carried by the elevating frame below the endless chains,and link and spring connections between the deck and the elevating framefor allowing the deck to accommodate itself to excess pressure of hay,substantially as described..

7. In a hay loader, the combination of a supporting frame, an elevatingframe, ground'wheels, endless chains driven by the ground wheels,` rakeheads mounted upon the endless chains, rake teeth carried by the rakeheads, a deck carried bythe elevating frame below the endless chains,link and springA connections between the deck and the. elevating framefor allowing the `,deck toqaccommodate itself-to the excess pressure ofhay. and stripperv rods extending longitudinally of the elevating framethrough whichthe rake teeth project when in contiguous relation to thedeck, substantially as described.

V8. In a hay loader, the combination of a supporting frame, an elevatingframe, ground wheels, endless chains driven by the ground wheels, rakeheads mounted upon the endless chains, rake teeth carried by the rakeheads, a deck, obliquely arranged links connecting the deck to theelevating frame, and a spring Jfor 'holding the deck in abuttingrelation withV respect to the elevating soA Mfraneand dapted to perrnltthedeel; to

swing back 'from the frame Vunderethe e cess pressu'e of thehayfsubstantallyes Vdescribed Y 9. In a hay loader, the combination ofa,V

supporting frame, an' elevating frame,

' ground Wheels,v eleva-tinggf-k means, a 'deck carried by the elevatingframe' below lthe elevating means,- and link and spring connectionsbetween the deck and the elevatingV K10 Y frame for allowlng the deckAto Vaccommodate tselfrto excess pressure 'of hay,V Substantally asdescfbed.V l

